


Transformation

by Arkanna



Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-26 03:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12547364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arkanna/pseuds/Arkanna
Summary: Curiosity leads to a change.





	1. A Touch of Magic

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters.

“Ja . . . Spic . . . Wha . . .” Chase absolutely could not order his thoughts.

The warlord was, in fact, speechless. Between Bean's scheming and the monk's violent tendencies, Chase had put serious thought into a new direction for Jack's training. After the last showdown, when the boy had mysteriously come away with nothing more than a few bruises, bruises that looked suspiciously like they were quickly healing on their own, he had decided to push Jack in a new direction. Rapidly moving his training forward, perhaps more quickly than normal—but he was curious. It was essential that the boy be able to defend himself against attack, especially that of a magical nature. Jack seemed to have an uncanny ability to survive physical damage so he had left his apprentice with a new yet simple task, his first lesson in magic—light a small candle.

It was the most elementary of spells. It required no special equipment or ingredients, he was not summoning a denizen of the lower realms. Quite simply, just a candle, an incantation and his own willpower.

Jack had even taken NOTES! Writing the words carefully and asking Chase a dozen times if he had the proper words and pronunciation. It had greatly tried his patience, but Chase had assured the boy that each word was, indeed, correct before leaving him to practice after demonstrating the spell, slowly and carefully, twice.

That had been three hours ago. It was such a simple thing one did not need to be a Dragon of Fire to perform the spell, even an ordinary human plucked from the streets should be able to accomplish the task—but Spicer?

 _Why,_ Chase wondered pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes tightly shut in frustration, _are there two snakes huddled in the corner and why is there a vulture perched on one of the practice dummies?!_ It took him a moment to register the assortment of weeds somehow growing through nonexistent cracks in the floor and the puddle of something dark and viscous that almost seemed to ooze across the ground as if it were somehow alive.

From his seat on the floor, Jack glanced up at his master. Chase realized he looked frazzled and slightly . . . charred? The smell of burning lingered but it had nothing to do with the candle his apprentice had been glaring at.

“What are you doing?” he demanded with a very irritated growl.

“Um . . . practicing?” Jack replied a bit reluctantly.

“This is not what I left you to do.”

“Yeah . . . about that . . . I might be doing something wrong.”

The incredulous look the warlord shot his apprentice made Jack wince.

“Show me,” he barked imperiously.

“That might not . . .”

“Now!” Chase growled his eyes slowly beginning to glow in fury.

“Yes, Master!” Jack quickly replied, realizing his error and the disrespect he had almost shown the warlord.

Turning back to the candle, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself then glared at the thing once more. Fiercely he held the image of the burning candle in his mind.

The glowing red ember at the tip of a slightly curled wick. The faint blue tint of the fire transitioning to a pale gold. The arced flame dancing to some inner tune even in the perfectly still room. Fixing it with such intensity he surprised Chase.

The warlord almost able to see the image clearly, a unique connection he had only ever experienced with his warriors. His startled thoughts were broken by Jack's quiet incantation.

Each word was spoken slowly and clearly. Inflection and enunciation perfect not a word out of place or misspoken and yet what happened next stunned the warlord.

There was a flash and a sizzle followed by a pained cry from Jack. Electricity, of all things, crackled from somewhere and grounded into the candle in a brilliant flash of light and sound. Heavy thick smoke filled the air momentarily but when it cleared, Chase just blinked at the sight.

Jack was flat on his back and slightly more blackened than he had been. A faint wisp of smoke lazy drifted upwards from his clothes and the smell of burning was far stronger. The candle was nowhere to be seen but in its place, somehow, sat a very large blue frog.

“That was . . . unexpected,” Chase managed.

Jack could only groan in response.

The warlord slowly walked around the prone boy, studying him carefully then glancing around the room once more. There was nothing, not a single form of summoning that he had ever, in his long years of existence, come across that was similar to the spell Spicer had so spectacularly failed to invoke. Chase's mastery was absolute, he no longer needed the words, a simple flick of his hand enough to light the entirety of his dwelling instantly. Fire was simple, plain and unimaginative. Four words designed to light a candle and nothing more and yet, somehow, Jack had . . . summoned a menagerie of things into the citadel.

Chase stopped and stood with his arms folded watching as Jack slowly sat up and looked around in confusion.

“Where's the candle?”

“I believe it is now a rather large blue frog,” Chase remarked with a sudden frown.

“That's . . . that's new,” Jack muttered staring at the amphibian in question.

“All of this is the result of your attempts at the spell?”

Jack merely nodded feeling the sharp sting of his failure.

Chase huffed after a moment, irritation warring with both curiosity and a slight bit of confusion.

“There will be no more training today,” he said thinking, “but I will expect you in the library in,” he paused, taking in Jack's appearance, “two hours.”

Without further comment Chase vanished leaving Jack to wonder what he was doing wrong.

 


	2. Gone Awry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters.

 

Chase glared at the potion sitting on his desk. It was a rather unorthodox experiment but he simply did not have any idea why Jack's first attempt at magic had failed so spectacularly with such unexpected results. It reminded Chase of the times when magic and supernatural things seemed to behave oddly around the boy. Perhaps this test would shed some light on the cause as the warlord had not been able to detect anything preternatural about him.

He glanced up as the door opened and leaned back, steepling his fingers, and regarded Jack. He stared at Chase uncertainly, fidgeting slightly, shifting from foot to foot under the warlord's intense gaze.

“I have decided on a test,” Chase said at length. “Perhaps your inept attempt at magic stems from a lack of loyalty and trust. . .”

“No! I'm . . .” Jack interrupted frantically, terrified that Chase was about to end his apprenticeship, but the warlord held up a silencing hand.

“This potion,” Chase continued, ignoring the boy's interruption, “will test you. The greater your loyalty and trust in me, the intensely it will react. It will change you. The less human you become, the stronger your ties to me. It is your choice whether you wish to take this test.” In truth, he was a bit curious how far Jack was willing to trust him, what he was willing to do to prove his loyalty. He would not force him to take the potion, it would be his decision.

Without thought Jack reached for the small goblet, “So it's supposed to turn me into something else?”

Chase nodded as he lifted the liquid to his lips.

“Do you not wish to know what to expect? The change could be permanent.”

Jack paused only a moment, “No, I trust you,” and downed the potion before Chase could say another word.

In truth, it was a simple concoction meant to change the boy into a snow leopard for a short time. Chase was loathe to use magic as it seemed to behave oddly and the binding spell he used on his warriors was permanent.

Jack let out a strangled moan and fell to the floor, twitching in pain as his body began the slow process of shifting into a large feline. Fur sprouted from his limbs as they thinned and lengthened. Massive paws replacing his hands and feet while muscles swelled to provide the power a predator of his caliber would demand. His head grew and lengthened, broadening slightly with a maw full of sharp teeth and long canines. Large pointed ears swept back and flattened tightly against his skull expressing his displeasure with the pain of the transformation.

Chase stared as the reddish fur slowly spread. This most certainly was NOT supposed to happen. Jack was supposed to be a snow leopard, a young snow leopard at that to match his age and yet . . . He stared, this most certainly was NOT a snow leopard by any stretch of imagination. A leopard, yes, a very handsome leopard the likes of which Chase had never encountered, but . . . FIVE tails?! and a single graceful horn curving back over his head?!

Chase sighed, shaking his head in bewilderment. Of all the things he had encountered in his long life, this was one of the few that completely confounded him. Much like the simple fire spell, the potion's sole intent was to transform Jack into a leopard. A normal, unassuming snow leopard. Chase had tested it before, actually used it on others and never once had anything like this happened. He stared at Jack . . . at the _zheng_ that the boy had somehow become, and wondered what could possibly be going on.

A few moments later, the beast lurched to its feet with a small whine and growl. It shook itself vigorously before padding across the room to sit obediently beside the warlord. It looked up at its master with absolute adoration in it's brilliant ruby eyes, the only thing marking it as uniquely Spicer. The zheng yawned suddenly and without a second thought lay against Chase's chair, his head pressed tightly to the warlord's ankle.

Chase sat quietly contemplating his apprentice. Jack was curled up at his side appearing to be asleep and yet Chase could hear his thoughts and knew that he was fully awake and aware of everything going on around him. And those thoughts, simple and precise, uncluttered but entirely unlike Jack Spicer. _Master_ and _protect_ the loudest and most predominant. The human wholly subsumed by the beast he had become.

 


	3. A Change, but Why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters.

Two days Chase had spent researching. Pouring over ancient texts and scrolls, some so archaic and esoteric they were all but incomprehensible, in an attempt to understand why Jack was _still_ a zheng.

The great cat never left his side. He even insisted on sleeping at the foot of his bed. Awake and alert, as still as a statue, from the moment Chase fell asleep to the moment he awoke. Only napping once the warlord was awake and even then pressed tightly against his side. Not truly asleep but an odd sort of waking slumber that left him ever vigilant.

Chase scowled down at the monks. Jack had alerted him to their approach barely a second after the warlord himself had sensed their presence.

“Why are you here?” Chase droned in a bored tone.

“We are here to stop your evil . . .” Omi was babbling and pointing at Chase when a very low angry growl echoed through the room.

Jack stalked from the shadows, fury evident in every line of his body, rage burning in his eyes. _THEY were threatening his master,_ the only coherent thought in his mind.

 _Not good,_ Chase groaned to himself leaping from his throne. “NO! SPI . . . JA . . . STOP!” but Jack continued forwards, circling his prey.

“Dude, what is that?” Raimundo muttered eyeing the beast.

“Didn't know ya had a pet there pardner,” Clay observed.

Chase turned an irritated scowl on the monks, “It . . . HE is not a pet! LEAVE! NOW!”

Chase imposed himself between Jack and the monks. This was not supposed to happen, why . . . what had gone wrong?

He watched Jack's powerful hind legs coil beneath him.“STOP!” Chase commanded again.

“Maybe you should try _heel,_ ” Kimiko snorted.

The tone of her voice set Jack off and he sprang only to be tackled by a transformed Chase. As they rolled around on the floor, the dragon locked it's eyes on the monks, “ **NOW!!** ” he roared. They didn't need to be told again and beat a hasty retreat.

Jack tried to spring after the fleeing monks, but Chase grappled with the large feline and pinned him to the floor. It was much more difficult than it should have been. The beast's powerful muscles straining to be free and fulfill it's desire to rend and tear the monks into tiny pieces for threatening the warlord. But then it should have come as no surprise. Like Chase's dragon side, zheng were mystical, straight from the realms of myth and nothing the warlord had ever dreamed of encountering.

The creature, _Jack,_ Chase mentally corrected himself, seemed to have only one purpose. It's sole desire to protect Chase. Willing to do anything to protect its _master_ the warlord knew without a doubt. He could not understand how the zheng's thoughts were so clear in his mind. It was almost as if he were one of Chase's warriors and yet he had NOT used the binding spell, merely a potion meant to have worn off long ago—but still the zheng persisted with no sign of the boy it had once been.

 

Chase sighed. Jack had finally calmed once the monks were well away from the citadel. He was now draped across the once again human warlord, pinning him to the floor and purring loudly. If asked, Chase would have said he should have been unable to purr, but then he was a mystical cat and nothing like the leopard he was supposed to be.

“Spicer . . . Jack, why are you a zheng?” he asked, knowing there would be no answer.

The zheng turned its ruby gaze on the warlord and cocked its head slightly. Absently Chase rubbed his cheek and scratched behind his ear. He was rewarded with a bone shaking purr he swore could be felt down to the bedrock of the citadel. Five tails curled and lashed with pleasure at the attention and Chase was thankful he was not acting more like a common house cat and attempting to knead the warlord as well. As it was, Jack lay his head on Chase's chest with a great toothy yawn, his eyes slowly closing into that strange waking sleep.

“When I said it could be permanent, I was merely testing your resolve. The potion was only meant to last a day,” Chase grumbled more to himself than Jack, “why have you not reverted?”

Again, there was no answer and truthfully, he had not expected one. The monks had interrupted his research and his careful notes lay abandoned in the library. It was a fruitless quest in any case. None of the ancient scrolls had been able to shed light on why Jack had become a zheng to begin with and he had found absolutely no clue as to why he remained transformed long after the potion's effects should have worn off.

Chase sighed again, more in frustration than anything else. Jack cracked open an eye and stared inquisitively at the warlord. He scratched his chin thoughtfully, noticing a small patch of white fur previously hidden.

“It was a test,” he finally admitted. Chase sensed curiosity from the zheng but nothing more past contentment that the monks were gone and the citadel was safe once again. “Your loyalty and trust have already been proven many times. If that had been the point of this experiment, you would have passed unequivocally but it was not.”

He was not sure if he should speak further, but there seemed to be no conscious thought from Jack. True, the zheng was very intelligent and obviously sentient and self-aware, but it was like the thinking part of his mind had been turned off, leaving only the instinctive and, perhaps, emotional compulsions functioning.

So different from his warriors, Chase mused silently then smiled, finally understanding why Jack had not obeyed him and attacked the monks. He was protecting what he saw as _his_ , not what belonged to the warlord, but what belonged to Jack, to the _zheng._ That possessive thought extended to Chase and his warriors, the citadel . . . the entirety of Chase's territory. The great cat saw the warlord as his and therefore, what belonged to him, belonged to the zheng as well. It was really quite amusing.

“You handle the Shen Gong Wu with ease,” he finally continued after a short internal debate, “but magic behaves oddly in your presence. I thought a test, a test to see how you would react to something different, new. A simple transformation and yet, that too, seems to have gone greatly awry.”

Both eyes were open now, the zheng regarding him quietly. There seemed more intelligence in his eyes, as if he was listening carefully to understand the warlord's words.

“I led you to believe the potion was a test of your loyalty when it truth it was more for my own curiosity,” Chase confessed. “I did not expect this to happen. You should have returned to your human form two days ago.”

There was a moment of silence before the zheng shook its head and rumbled something between a growl and snort before laying his head back on Chase's chest. It was a sound the warlord could not readily identify but if he had to guess—exasperation?

With a sigh he tried to push the great cat aside so that he could return to the library and his research. The zheng suddenly whimpered and a violent tremor passed through its body. To Chase's great consternation it began to revert. In but a few moments, he was staring at Jack once again.

The boy slowly opened his eyes. They were bleary and he was having trouble focusing. He felt muzzy and for some odd reason unable to gather his thoughts. _Why am I on the . . . no, not floor_. . . _CHASE!_ he suddenly realized and tried to jump to his feet, only to fall back to the ground. He was too weak and exhausted to move and lost consciousness.

Chase could only stare in confusion. The zheng . . . no, his apprentice . . . no— _Jack_ , he found he preferred to think of him that way, lay in an awkward, uncomfortable looking heap. He was human once again . . . but why?

With a small sigh he rose and carefully lifted him from the floor. He chuckled quietly, realizing he was, once again, carrying Jack up to his room.

The ascent gave Chase time to observe Jack and consider all the odd things that continued to happen whenever he was around. By the time he had the boy tucked into his bed, Chase had turned each incident over a dozen times and was no closer to understanding what was so . . . odd about Jack Spicer.

The warlord huffed quietly but the small sound was, strangely, enough to wake him. Jack stared at Chase with eyes that refused to focus properly, absolute exhaustion clearly evident. The change had taken its toll on the boy.

“Wha . . . the test?” his thoughts were still mostly scattered, but he was able to remember that and it left him in a state of panic, thinking he had failed.

“You did, indeed, change,” Chase was surprised Jack needed to ask, it was certainly something he would not forget.

“ . . Did? . . . don' . . 'member . . .” Jack slurred, almost asleep again, his eyes drooping closed.

The warlord regarded him a moment, worry clearly evident on the boy's face.

“You passed.” The moment Chase spoke, the tension drained away and a small relieved smile drifted over Jack's face. His eyes closed fully and he was instantly asleep.

Chase, however, did not leave but stared in bewilderment. It was unlike him to be so startled by one single individual but Spicer seemed to be the exception.

For just an instant, something had glinted in Jack's eyes before they fully closed. It almost seemed an odd side effect of the potion, a lingering hint of the zheng, impossible as that might be, but it was enough to give Chase pause. Was it possible belief alone had caused the potion to backfire?

Jack had taken it without question, trusting the warlord implicitly. He knew that it would change him and believed that it could be permanent. Chase had not told him that it was only temporary or that he would become a snow leopard. Jack had simply trusted. Was such absolute belief in another possible? Becoming human only _after_ the warlord had told him the truth, absolute trust even as a beast? Was it that simple . . . or perhaps something more? Should he leave be and see where this might lead or seek answers to questions he wasn't sure how to pose? Chase hummed thoughtfully to himself as he left Jack to sleep and quietly shut the door.

 


End file.
